Die for making forks.



-' No. 696,753. l atented Apr. l, !902.

s. n. ROBISON.

DIE FOR MAKING FORKS.

(A plicatiqn filed Dec. 18, 1901.1

.Frai.

, tion of the dies.

UwiTnn TnTns PATENT Trice.

SAMUEL D. ROBISON, OF SEXVICKLIJY, PENNSYLVANIA.-

DIE FOR MAKING FORKS.

SJPLEGJIFIGAI'IQN formingpart of Letters Patent No. 696,? 5 3, datedApril 1, 1902. Application filed December 18,1901. Serial No. 86.437.(No model.)

To LZZ whsm, it may concern."

Be it known that I, SAMUEL D.-RoBIsoN, a resident of Sewickley, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Dies for Making Forks; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to the manufacture of forks and similar articles;and its object is to provide dies whereby such articles can be formedfrom plate metal bya single stroke or operation.

A further object of my invention is to provide dies whereby forks can beformed from plate metal by a single operation and with a minimum amountof waste.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a plate,showing how the forks are cut out therefrom. Fig. 2 is a plan View ofone of the dies. Fig. 3 is a transverse see- Fig. 4l=is a similarsection of a portion thereof on an enlarged scale, and Fig. 5 is alongitudinal section of the dies.

The dies employed comprise a bottom die 1 and a top die 2, one or bothof which will be made movable by means of any suitable mechanism-such,for instance, as a powercylinder. These dies are provided, near one endthereof, with a transverse cavity or groove 3, which is to form'the heador back bar of the fork. Communicating with this transverse die-cavityare a series of longitudi nal cavities or grooves 4, the number thereofcorresponding to thenumber of tines of the particular fork being made.These longitudinal cavities 4 taper toward their outer ends, as at 5, togive the proper shape to the ends of the tines, and the side wallsthereof will be shaped so as to give the desired contour to the tines.As shown in the drawings, they are beveled, so as to form substantiallydiamond-shaped tines, although, if desired, they may be curved so as toformround or oval tines, or they may be. of any other de sired shape.The side walls of the cavity 3,

however, are practically straight, as shown in Fig. 5, so as. to formsubstantially square faces on the head or back bar of the fork. All ofthese grooves or cavities are bounded by sharp cutting walls or edges 7,which serve to sever the plate, and the metal cut out by these sharpwalls is then pressed by the dies into the cavities 3 and 4 to thedesired shape. The cavity or groove 3 is intersected at its middleportion by a cavity 8, which also is bounded by sharp cutting walls oredges 7. These edges cut out of the plate a portion which is afterwarddrawn out to form the tang of the fork. Between the grooves 4 the diesare cut away, as at 9, which cut-away portions in one or both of thedies are deeper than the grooves 3 and 4, so as to form spaces intowhich the remaining portions of the plate can pass during the cuttingand shaping operation.

These dies can of course be modified considerably without departing fromthe spiritof the invention. For instance, instead of formingV-shapedcutting walls or edges 7 on the dies they may be formed substantiallysquare, the edges on one die being arranged to pass those on the otherin the manner of ordinary shearing-dies, as will be readily understood.Furthermore, the dies instead of being flat may, if desired, be formedcurved, so as to not only cut and forge out the fork, but also bend itto the curved shape which is found in commercial forks.

In carrying out my invention I take a plate 11-01: the necessary widthand thickness to form the desired forks. This plate, either cold orraised to any heat up to a good forging-heat, is placed between the dies1 and 2, and said dies are then brought together, thereby cutting out ofthe plate the blank shown at 12in Fig. 1, the same comprising the tines13, head or back bar 14, and the projection 15, which is afterward drawnout, as shown in dotted lines, to form the tang of the fork. The diesfirstout sufficient metal from the plate to form this fork, and as saiddies are fully pressed together they will shape this cut-out metal bymeans of the grooves 3 and 4 to give theproper form for the tines andhead. This single operation forms a blank which is practically a forkand becomes such as soon as the tines are given the proper curvature andthe projection 15 is drawn out to form the tang. This operation leavesthe plate with a series of fingers or projections 16, which have beencut away from between the tines of the previously-formed fork, thesefingers being united at one side of the plate by the strip 17. The platecan then be reversed and the dies again operated in the manner beforedescribed, thus cutting out another fork blank from these remainingportions of the plate, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. Thus twoforks are cut out from I a plate of suflicient size to form only asingle fork and with a minimum amount of waste,

the only metal wasted being small strips at each side of the tines lastformed and small pieces at the head of the fork.

I do not wish my invention limited to the formation of forks from a longplate, such as the one shown at 11, as said plate before or after beingheated can be cut into sections each of which will form two forks, aswill be communicating with said transverse cavity for forming andshaping the tines, said transverse and longitudinal cavities beingbounded by cutting-walls, and the longitudinal cavities being separatedby grooves or spaces of greater depth for receiving the cut-awayportions of the plate.

2. Dies for making forks and similar articles, the same comprisingbodies each having a transverse cavity or groove for forming and shapingthe head or back bar of the fork, and a series of longitudinal cavitiesor grooves communicating with said transverse cavity for forming andshaping the tines, said transverse and longitudinal cavities beingbounded by cutting-walls, and the longitudinal cavities on one of saiddies at least being separated by grooves orspaces of greater depth forreceiving the cut-away portions of the plate.

A die for making forks and similar articles, the same comprising a bodyhaving a transverse cavity or groove for forming and shaping the head orback bar of the fork, and a series of longitudinal cavities or groovescommunicating with said transverse cavity for forming and shaping thetines, said transverse and longitudinal cavities being bounded bycutting-Walls, and the longitudinal cavities being tapered toward theirouter ends to form the points of the tines and being separated bygrooves or spaces of greater depth for receiving the cut-away portionsof the plate.

4:. A die for making forks and similar articles, the same comprising abody having a transverse groove or. cavity having substantially straightwalls for forming and shaping the head or back bar of the fork, and aseries of longitudinal cavities or grooves communicating with saidtransverse cavity and having sloping or curved walls for forming andshaping the tines, said transverse and longitudinal cavities beingbounded by cutting-walls, and the longitudinal cavities being separatedby grooves or spaces for receiving the cutaway portions of the plate.

5. A die for making forks and similar articles, the same comprising abody having a transverse cavity or groove for forming and shaping thehead or back bar of the fork, a cavity communicating with saidtransverse cavity at its middle portion for cutting out a portion toform the tang of the fork, and a series of longitudinal cavitiescommunicating with the transverse cavity for forming and shaping thetines, all of said cavities being bounded by cutting-walls, and thelongitudinal cavities being separated by grooves or spaces for receivingthe cut-away portions of the plate.

In testimony whereof I, the said SAMUEL D. ROBISON, have hereunto set myhand.

SAMUEL D. ROBISON.

Witnesses:

F. W. WINTER, ROBERT C. TOTTEN.

